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Open sourcing Windows is more hassle than it's worth and Microsoft sees little gain in releasing code, according to the man leading Microsoft's server marketing and platform strategy.

Microsoft general manager Bill Hilf has said the Windows source code is "irrelevant for what people want".

Hilf said "most of the knowledgeable people" are actually asking not to be given the source code for Windows, in a video here from Reg Dev contributor and editor in chief of Uberpulse.com Jean-Baptiste Su.

"They don't want source code, they want to write an application like we can write an application: they want to know how does Outlook talk to Exchange."

In Hilf's opinion, there'd be no reason to open source Microsoft's code other than for an "interesting press article".

Before joining Microsoft, Hilf led IBM's Linux and open source software technical strategy. His comments come as Microsoft promised it would publish Windows APIs and protocols in a move roundly welcomed by members of the open source community.®